Can multiple displacements damage heart

Hi
I had dual lead PM inserted August 2010. Day after insertion the V lead displaced so they had to go in again.
As months proegressed I could see leads and PM starting to pop through the skin.
Had been feeling ok but when I went for a check another surgeon said the pm need 'reburial' as it will come through the skin.
On 13th July (third op) to sink the pm in deeper and hide the wires.
Released from hospital same day but no chest xray taken.
Started feeling ill, faint, palps. Thought it was the after effects from op and had a wound check on 25th so left it. Went for wound check on 25th and told them that i was feeling rather strange with palps etc. They hooked me up and the V lead was out again.
I know I hadnt moved my arm as I put it in a sling to remind me not to move it.
They rushed me in on 27th July to re-attach V lead. Kept me in overnight and took chest Xray next day. Different doctor visited my bed and said no vital organs had been damaged by the disconnected lead and that it was fine and dishcarged me.
Got home 28th, palps started, 29th, palps, 30th, 31st July, palps.
I called pacing team and they asked me to go in. On 1st August (2 days ago) I am now told that the V lead has displaced again, and it seems that the Xray taken on 28th before they discharged me from hospital shows the lead is displaced but they still let me go?
Told today I need a fifth operation to fix the V lead on 24th August.
I have been very patient with these 'experts' but I am now getting very concerned.
Does anybody know if these displacements and detachments can damage the hearts muscle with them having to go in so many times. They are also using the same entrance wound which is so tender now as it has been opened 4 times.
Any info on potential damage would be helpful.
Thanks

4 Comments

No answers here, just sympathy...

by jenny97 - 2011-08-04 06:08:24

I'm so sorry you are going through all this. I can't really answer your questions, but I wanted to at least express my sympathy that you are going through such a nightmarish experience. It sounds to me like it might be time to get a second opinion. Maybe other surgeons in the area have more experience with placing V leads than this dr? i don't know if I'd let the same guy operate on me again...

Alternatively, there might be some kind of physiological factor coming into play that no one has looked at before. For example, has anyone mentioned any tissue problems to you? Is your tissue particularly fragile? Have you ever had trouble with surgical wounds healing? Are you double-jointed or have you experienced multiple non-trauma related joint dislocations? If so, there might be some kind of hypermobility issues factoring into the equation, which might be worth looking at.

Either way, my thoughts and prayers are with you. I really hope the 5th time is the charm for you!

Jenny

Thankyou All for your help

by LindaB - 2011-08-05 10:08:20

I cannot thank you all enough for your comments. I was not sure where to go or who to ask...thankyou. Just want to get back to work.

My experience

by Pookie - 2011-08-05 11:08:09

Hi.

My Ventricle lead kept falling too. 3 times. Finally during the 3rd operation the cardiac surgeon used another type of lead ending (as Patch described) and it worked for me. The one that finally worked for me was the one with the screw type end.

Wishing you the best.

But keep in mind, it's not anything you are doing, sometimes things like this just happen.

Pookie

my thoughts

by scrappy555 - 2011-08-05 11:08:21

My experience is similar, but not NEARLY as bad. My first PM, a dual lead, was implanted in March 2005. Within 18 months, the atrial lead broke. My cardio doc & pacemaker RN advised no action was necessary, as this was not the critical lead for me.

Although I was doing all my home monitoring, apparently my cardio had a person helping the pacemaker RN reading test results who missed an electrical surge in November 2010 that should have alerted my healthcare team that my ventricular lead was broken. In March, 2011, I had another brief "flatline" episode. The ER doc refused to consider it related to my pacemaker & did not call in a Medtronic rep; I was traveling & no cardio doc was consulted; no heart monitoring, either. They misdiagnosed me with food poisoning because I was vomiting. Although they did an EKG & chest X-ray, the "assured" me that my problems were not heart-related. I knew better so when I returned home the following Monday from my weekend trip, I called my cardio doc & he had me come in pronto.

He admitted me then & put in a new single lead PM the following morning. Unfortunately, that lead dropped out of position & I also had to undergo a reimplantation. Things have been fine since, but I have a distinct lack of confidence now.

I agree that you need a new doc, definitely, & I wouldn't trust the one you have now to do anything on me again if I were you. Please keep us posted on your progress!.

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